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Entries with the tag: darren mccarty

It’s been a long, troubled and well-documented road for former Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty. Failed marriages. Money troubles. Most of all, always there — the problem with alcohol.

McCarty said that’s all over now and it’s all due to medical marijuana.

“The so-called experts say that it’s like switching decks on the Titanic,” McCarty said. “Hell no, it’s not. Anybody who knows me knows the grip alcohol had on my life. To be able to be free of that, I would do anything for it. And I’ve gotten there.”

McCarty takes a 500 milligram tablet of CBD in the morning. That’s a form of the drug that has no THC, the chemical that creates the marijuana high. The pills control the pain he has from his playing years and what he calls “self-inflicted wounds. I fell down a lot.”

“It’s not fun walking around with a knife in your back all day,” McCarty said. “So in the morning, when you can put some syrup or something in your coffee, it loosens you up…and [you can be] on your way,” McCarty said.

USA Today engaged in an intriguing exercise this morning, having Calgary Flames president Brian Burke pen a "guest column" in support of fighting, USA Hockey's Michael J. Stuart and the Mayo Clinic's David W. Dodick and Aynsley M. Smith pen a guest column aruging for the abolishment of fighting in hockey, and USA Today's Kevin Allen speaking with NBC Sports' Keith Jones, NHLPA special assistant to the executive director Mathieu Schneider and one former Red Wings scrapper Darren McCarty about the fact that fighting's dropped by about 20% this season:

"There are fewer heavyweights now and fewer guys willing to fight, and it just seems like fighting isn't used as a deterrent the same way it was in the past," retired NHL tough guy Darren McCarty said.

A rule was introduced this season mandating visor use for all new players entering the NHL. Plus, players receive an additional penalty if they take their helmets off to fight. That rule was designed to protect players' heads if they fell during a fight.

"It's more inconvenient now, and I wonder if that has had an effect on it," said former NHL player Keith Jones, now an NBC analyst. "Now a little more thought process has to go into it, rather than the quick reaction."

Former Detroit Red Wings star Darren McCarty, who won his fourth Stanley Cup ring in 2008 after recovering from alcoholism and a high-profile bankruptcy filing, has new money problems.

The IRS last week accused him of failing to pay $62,189 in federal taxes.

That’s the latest personal challenge facing the rugged, fan-friendly forward who became part of Detroit sports lore through his grinding style, charitable acts and legendary battles with Colorado’s Claude Lemieux.

McCarty is happy to do whatever the team asks of him at this most important time of year. “To fill a role and to be a part of it is an honour,” McCarty said. “Obviously, you’d like to play and be part of it on the ice, but that’s not the way it’s been meant to be so far. This time’s a little different. It’s sort of on the outside looking in, but that’s not how it feels to me. It’s just nice to be a part of it.

“The bottom line is to win. That’s what this organization is all about. Just to be here and be at the finals again, it’s exciting. Everybody does their little part to chip in when they can.”

McCarty, 37, says he feels like a proud papa as he watches his Grand Rapids teammates like Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm, Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader fill important roles along Detroit’s latest drive to the Cup.

“I’m pretty sure, unless Forsberg’s leg’s going to fall off, he’ll probably be in there for Game 3,” McCarty said. “They’re a veteran team. They’re well-coached and they’ve got guys that have been in different situations like this before. It’s not like they’re a young team.”

Mike Valenti of 97.1 fm, the Wings flagship station… A caller asked what about Mac coming back, what will he do to help the Wings?

Valenti: “Nothing. Why did Calgary get rid of him, why did Atlanta get rid of him? You need to ask that question first! Enjoy your memories, because that is all you got. The guy don’t got nothing left.”

“It was sort of like I didn’t have to deal with anything,” he said. “And I was functional. You wouldn’t be able to tell if I was high or if I wasn’t. I was depressed, big-time. I just wanted to sleep. I just wanted to be by myself—or not around people that care about me.”

After speaking with his ex-wife, McCarty left the hydroplane races that July day and did what he needed to do. He entered rehab for three months. (McCarty said he wants to keep the name and location of the program private.)

“I finally faced things that I needed to face,” McCarty said. “I firmly believe that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. But for me, I needed to pretty much lose almost everything to realize what was important. I’m one of those people.

According to a league source, McCarty met recently with the Red Wings’ brass and a plan was outlined to see if he could fast track his way back to the big leagues.

It’s a no-risk proposition for the Wings, who recognize that if McCarty, an unrestricted free agent, still has what it takes to play in the league, he gives them a physical presence and would make Detroit a much unfriendlier opponent.

The scenario is very familiar to the winter of 1996, when the Wings rescued Joe Kocur from the beer leagues of Michigan and installed him on a very effective checking line with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby during Detroit’s Stanley Cup wins of 1996-97 and 1997-98.

“When Mac came back into town, probably about a month ago, he gave me a call and expressed interest that he wanted some help and wanted to get back to the NHL,” Draper said Sunday by phone. “The last three weeks before Christmas, he spent at CORE training every day.”

Draper was convinced after their hourlong lunch last month that McCarty was serious about returning to the NHL.

“I hadn’t talked to him, really talked to him, in like three years,” Draper said. “Last couple years have been frustrating and disappointing for him. I don’t know if it was coming back to the city ... maybe he got that passion again.”

It was only fitting McCarty was at Tuesday night’s Wings 5-3 victory over the Flames at The Joe. McCarty played for both teams—he was with Calgary the last two seasons. A free agent, McCarty still loves the game and hasn’t given up the idea of playing again.

“I want to play, for sure,” McCarty said. “I’d like to give it a shot and catch on with somebody and play. I think I can still play, I still think I can bring something to the team—that intangible stuff, leadership, a spark.”